Claims 3 more lives; fog disrupts flights, ferry movement
Bone-chilling cold and thick fog hit the people hard, especially in the north, yesterday claiming at least three more lives raising the toll to nine in the last two days.
Hundreds, mostly children and the elderly, are suffering from different cold-related diseases due to this spell. The weather also disrupted communications via roads, rivers and air yesterday.
Almost all coaches travelling at night took two to three hours more than usual to reach their destinations due to heavy fog, said Khandaker Enayetullah, general secretary of Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Samity.
Most launches on long routes like Dhaka-Barisal, Dhaka-Patuakhali, and Dhaka-Barguna were stranded in mid river for two to three hours due to the fog, said Rafiqul Islam, deputy director of Sadarghat Launch Terminal.
Two flights from Shahjalal International Airport were delayed for around an hour early yesterday due to thick fog covering the runway, while many passengers got stranded at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong for several hours as flights to Dhaka were diverted there, said an airport official.
The ferry service on Mawa-Kawrakandi route was suspended for six hours, leaving some 150 vehicles stranded in the middle of the Padma, while the ferry service between Paturia and Daulatdia was suspended for around 11 hours.
The weather has made it really tough for the homeless. In Dhaka they were seen searching for warm clothes and a warm place to kip for the night.
Many city dwellers stayed indoors for most part of the weekend.
Price of warm clothes in different city markets and roadside shops has shot up.
The Met office said a mild to moderate cold wave was sweeping over the country and that would continue today with the likelihood of easing off tomorrow.
The lowest temperature was recorded in Jessore, 6.0 degree Celsius, and the highest was in Cox’s Bazar, 26.7 degree Celsius.
Dhaka’s lowest temperature was 12.0 degree Celsius while the highest 19.3 degree Celsius, said an official of the Met office.
Many district administrations have arranged warm clothes and accommodation for the poor, while many districts sought financial help from the higher authorities.
Our Lalmonirhat correspondent reports: The cold weather claimed two elderly men in the district, one died yesterday and the other on Friday. The deceased were Rahim Uddin, 75, and Saber Ali, 82.
A total of 107 people with cold-related diseases have been admitted to different government hospitals in the district.
Our Rangpur correspondent reports: Two elderly people died of cold-related diseases at Pirgachha upazila in the district, one yesterday and the other on the day before. The deceased were Tofa Bewa, 82, and Abdul Aziz, 57.
At least 126 children and old people are under treatment in different hospitals with cold-related diseases.
Four others died across the country on Friday.
Our Jessore correspondent reports: An elderly person died in the cold yesterday. The identity could not be known.
Our Kurigram correspondent reports: A total of 135 children and the elderly are in hospitals in the district with cold-related diseases.
Our Chittagong correspondent reports: Three international flights from Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore, scheduled to land in Dhaka, were diverted to Chittagong around 1:00am yesterday.
The passengers staged demonstration at the airport complaining mismanagement on the part of the airport authorities and food crisis. The passengers left for Dhaka at 10:00am.
Our Manikganj correspondent reports: Due to suspension of ferry services on Paturia-Daulatdia route, around 900 vehicles got stranded on both sides of the Padma.
Our Munshiganj and Madaripur correspondents report: Around 2,000 people got stranded due to the suspension of ferry service on Mawa-Kawrakandi route between 2:00am and 6:00am yesterday.
Besides, over 100 vessels including 13 launches got trapped on the Padma, Dhaleshwari, Meghna and Ichhamoti rivers.
Our Barisal correspondent reports: Ferry services on some routes inside the district were suspended for hours and around 50 vessels had to anchor in mid river in thick fog.
-With The Daily Star input
